October 2015
eSkills for Jobs 2015-16, Campaign by European Commission
eSkills for Jobs, part of the EU eSkills strategy, is a major cross sector, multi-stakeholder campaign by the European Commission, involving more than 650 organisations across Europe including companies, associations, education and training bodies and NGOs. The aim of the campaign (running in 2015 and 2016) is to raise awareness of the need for citizens to improve their command of information and communication technology (ICT) skills for work. The campaign is a response to the growing demand for ICT-skilled professionals which is currently not met, despite high levels of unemployment in Europe.
At the same time that many Europeans are struggling to find work, technology companies face a critical shortfall in ICT workers. Europe may experience a shortage of up to 825,000 ICT professionals by 2020, risking growth and competitiveness. Women are also significantly under-represented in ICT related jobs – less than 30% of the ICT workforce is female.
Furthermore, a growing percentage of all jobs today require an understanding of ICT. Yet, half of all citizens in the European Union have no or low computer skills.
eSkills for Jobs encourages citizens to develop their digital skills and access today’s job market. The campaign has been launched under the European Commission’s Grand Coalition for Digital Jobs, a multi-stakeholder partnership to address the shortfall in eSkills among Europeans and encourage people to fully exploit the potential employment opportunities that ICT provides. For this purpose, industry, education bodies and public authorities will deliver a large and diverse programme of events and communications activities throughout 2015 and 2016.
The campaign is coordinated by DIGITALEUROPE and European Schoolnet in conjunction with hundreds of national and pan-European partners.
Find out more about activities and countries involved on eSkills for Jobs website.
Stay tuned via Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn.
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